Organized afterschool activities as a developmental context for children and adolescents.

Rural families’ use of multiple child care arrangements from 6 to 58 months and children’s kindergarten behavioral and academic outcomes

Background: Children who have sustained severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) demonstrate a range of post-injury neurocognitive and behavioral sequelae, which may have adverse effects on their academic and behavioral outcomes and interfere with school re-entry, educational progress, and quality of life. These post-TBI sequelae are exacerbated within the context of a resource-poor country like South Africa (SA) where the education system is in a somewhat precarious state especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.Objectives: To describe behavioral and academic outcomes of a group of school-aged SA children following severe TBI.Methods: The sample included 27 school-age children who were admitted to the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RXH), SA, between 2006 and 2011 for closed severe TBI and who received intracranial monitoring. We collected behavioral data using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and academic information sourced from the BRIEF, CBCL, medical folders, and caregivers. Analyses include descriptive statistics and bivariate correlation matrices.Results: The descriptive results show that (1) more than half of the participants experienced clinically-significant behavioral problems across the CBCL scales, (2) the working memory BRIEF subscale appeared to be the most problematic subdomain, (3) two thirds of the sample were receiving some form of, or were in the process of being placed in, special needs education, (4) there was a three-fold increase in the use of special education services from pre- to post-injury, and (5) more than half (n = 16) of the sample repeated at least one grade after returning to school post-injury. Correlation analyses results suggest that children with increased externalizing behavioral problems and executive dysfunction are more likely to repeat a grade post-injury; and that children with executive dysfunction post-TBI are more likely to require some form of special educational services.Conclusion: While there is a vast amount of literature on pediatric TBI (pTBI) academic and behavioral outcomes, little literature exists on the pTBI population from the developing world and SA specifically. This is important to address given unique challenges that face the country and its educational system, and its implications for the management and care of children post-TBI.

Objectives: To assess the association between team sport participation and behavioral, psychological, and social health outcomes in young athletes. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to identify studies published between 01/01/1950-05/01/2020 investigating the association between team sport participation and health outcomes in young athletes (<25 years). Included studies compared team sport participants to controls or themselves, assessed health outcomes, and had a sample size >50. Prospective and retrospective studies were included; non-primary literature was excluded. Health outcomes were categorized as: 1) behavioral, 2) psychological, or 3) social. Data were extracted to form 2 × 2 tables for each study to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Of 371 queried articles, 34 studies from 10 countries across 4 continents were included, with 9 reporting homogenous outcomes for meta-analysis. Behavioral: Fifteen studies evaluated behavioral health outcomes of alcohol and/or drug use, fitness, and diet. Quantitatively, team sport participation was found to decrease rates of cigarette/tobacco use across 5 studies (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.69–0.76) and alcohol/drug use across 7 studies (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.69–0.77). Qualitatively, 12/15 (80%) of studies confirmed improved behavioral health outcomes with team sport participation. Psychological: Nineteen studies evaluated psychological health outcomes including anorexia, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation. Quantitatively, team sport participation was associated with decreased depression/anxiety rates across 5 studies (OR 0.59, 95%CI 0.54–0.64). Qualitatively, 14/19 (74%) of studies confirmed improved psychological health. Social: Ten studies evaluated social health outcomes including academic performance, commitment, psychosocial health, social behavior/identity, and delinquency/high-risk activity. Qualitatively, 7/10 (70%) of studies confirmed improved social health outcomes with team sport participation. Conclusion: Team sport participation was associated with decreased odds of smoking/tobacco use, alcohol/drug use, and depression/anxiety. Though few studies mentioned potential negative effects of team sport participation, the majority reported improved behavioral, psychological, and social health outcomes in youth athletes worldwide.

Family environment interacts with CRHR1 rs17689918 to predict mental health and behavioral outcomes

Organized after-school activities promote positive youth development across a range of outcomes. To be most effective, organized activities need to meet high-quality standards. The eight features of quality developed by the National Research Council’s Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth have helped guide the field in this regard. However, these standards have largely been defined in terms of universal developmental needs, and do not adequately speak to the growing ethnic and racial diversity within the United States, which is further complicated by issues of power and social class differences. Given U.S. population shifts and after-school funding priorities, the time has come to consider new ways to provide organized after-school activities that are responsive to youth’s culture and everyday lives. The goal of this article is to explore how we can help ensure that after-school activities are culturally responsive and address the specific needs of the youth who participate in these activities. Based on theory and empirical evidence, we provide proposed practices of cultural responsiveness for each of the eight features of quality for program structure and staff. The article concludes with future directions for research and strategies to implement culturally responsive practices and harness resources.

Youth participation in organized after-school activities provides opportunities for positive growth and development. Unfortunately, ethnic minority youth, especially those living in low-income communities, participate in these activities at lower rates and less consistently than nonminority youth. This article reviews the research on the academic, psychological, and behavioral outcomes of participation in organized activities for African American and Latino youth. Second, it highlights individual and contextual factors associated with these youth’s initial and ongoing participation. It concludes by outlining the gaps in the literature on ethnic minority youth and articulates areas that require additional theory and research.

Based on sexual revictimization theory, this study investigates the role of individual characteristics (e.g., depression and subjective well-being) and contextual factors (school and organized activities) in the development of sexual harassment revictimization among Swedish Grade 7 (46% girls; Mage = 14.09) adolescents who were followed over 3 consecutive years. The analytic sample comprises adolescents in the school context (T1 N = 678, T2 N = 563, and T3 N = 471) and in organized free-time activity contexts (T1 n = 443, T2 n = 400, and T3 n = 356). Our findings suggest that adolescents with experiences of sexual harassment victimization in Grade 7 were at an increased risk of being sexually revictimized the following 2 years across the two distinct developmental contexts. Further, our results reveal that adolescents are more sexually harassed by their peers in organized activity contexts both concurrently and over time if they were victims of sexual harassment in the school context and the other way around. The findings underscore the need for sexual harassment prevention interventions to consider different developmental contexts simultaneously and to focus on the history of adolescents' experiences of victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Studies suggest strong links between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor adult health and social outcomes. However, the use of such studies in non-US populations is relatively scarce. Retrospective cross-sectional survey of 1500 residents and 67 substance users aged 18-70 years in a relatively deprived and ethnically diverse UK population. Increasing ACEs were strongly related to adverse behavioural, health and social outcomes. Compared with those with 0 ACEs, individuals with 4+ ACEs had adjusted odds ratios of the following: 3.96 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.74-5.73] for smoking; 3.72 (95% CI: 2.37-5.85) for heavy drinking; 8.83 (95% CI: 4.42-17.62) for incarceration and 3.02 (95% CI: 1.38-6.62) for morbid obesity. They also had greater risk of poor educational and employment outcomes; low mental wellbeing and life satisfaction; recent violence involvement; recent inpatient hospital care and chronic health conditions. Higher ACEs were also associated with having caused/been unintentionally pregnant aged <18 years and having been born to a mother aged <20 years. ACEs contribute to poor life-course health and social outcomes in a UK population. That ACEs are linked to involvement in violence, early unplanned pregnancy, incarceration, and unemployment suggests a cyclic effect where those with higher ACE counts have higher risks of exposing their own children to ACEs.

Participation in extracurricular activities can have positive effects on youth, with greater participation associated with higher academic as well as better socioemotional and behavioral outcomes. Little research has examined differential effects of in-school and out-of-school activities. This study examines in-school and out-of-school extracurricular activities for 14- to 17-year-olds using a population-based sample of Canadian youth. Associations with socioemotional and academic outcomes, and having tried smoking, alcohol, and marijuana were examined. Weekly participation in both in-school and out-of-school activities were associated with positive and negative outcomes. In particular, youth who participated in out-of-school activities or in both in-school and out-of-school activities had better socioemotional outcomes. Academic outcomes were associated with in-school and out-of-school sports and nonsport activities. Youth who participated weekly in nonsport activities regardless of the context (in-school or out-of-school) were less likely to have tried smoking, alcohol, or marijuana. However, weekly participation in in-school sports was associated with an increased likelihood of failing a course; youth who participated weekly in out-of-school sports were more likely to have tried alcohol. The findings suggest that participation in extracurricular activities, regardless of context, encourage positive youth development.

Sports-related concussion (SRC) can exert serious acute and long-term consequences on brain microstructure, function, and behavioral outcomes. We aimed to quantify the alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure and global network organization, and the decrements in behavioral and cognitive outcomes from pre-season to post-concussion in youth athletes who experienced SRC. We also aimed to evaluate whether wearing a jugular compression neck collar, a device designed to mitigate brain "slosh" injury, would mitigate the pre-season to post-concussion alterations in neuroimaging, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. A total of 488 high school football and soccer athletes (14-18 years old) were prospectively enrolled and assigned to the non-collar group (n = 237) or the collar group (n = 251). The outcomes of the study were the pre-season to post-concussion neuroimaging, behavioral, and cognitive alterations. Forty-six participants (non-collar: n = 24; collar: n = 22) were diagnosed with a SRC during the season. Forty of these 46 athletes (non-collar: n = 20; collar: n = 20) completed neuroimaging assessment. Significant pre-season to post-concussion alterations in WM microstructural integrity and brain network organization were found in these athletes (corrected p < 0.05). The alterations were significantly reduced in collar-wearing athletes compared to non-collar-wearing athletes (corrected p < 0.05). Concussion and collar main effects were identified for some of the behavioral and cognitive outcomes, but no collar by SRC interaction effects were observed in any outcomes. In summary, young athletes exhibited significant WM microstructural and network organizational, and cognitive alterations following SRC. The use of the jugular vein compression collar showed promising evidence to reduce these alterations in high school contact sport athletes.

Health sciences education involves intensive theoretical and clinical training that can expose students to psychological and physiological stressors, potentially affecting their well-being and academic success. Music may help mitigate these challenges. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of music interventions across psychological, physiological, and academic outcomes in health sciences students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in nine databases up to August 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Randomized controlled and controlled clinical trials comparing music interventions with control group were included. Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan (version 5.4). Thirty-four studies (n = 2841) were included, mostly nursing (n = 24), medical (n = 7), dental (n = 2), and midwifery (n = 1) students. Meta-analyses demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety (SMD = - 0.48, 95% CI [- 0.72, - 0.23]; p = 0.001), depression (SMD = - 1.00, 95% CI [- 1.95, - 0.04]; p = 0.040), and vital signs, including systolic blood pressure (MD = - 7.15, 95% CI [- 9.64, - 4.66]; p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (MD = - 3.72, 95% CI [- 5.53, - 1.91]; p = 0.050), and pulse rate (MD = - 3.77, 95% CI [- 7.46, - 0.07]; p = 0.050). No significant effects were found for stress, self-efficacy, sleep quality, pain, or academic performance. Music interventions effectively improve emotional well-being and autonomic regulation among health sciences students. Although their effects on academic or behavioral outcomes remain inconclusive, music represents a simple and safe approach to enhance psychological resilience in educational environments. International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (CRD420251150104).

BackgroundHarms associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) in licensed entertainment settings (LES) and outdoor music festivals (OMF) are ongoing public health and criminal justice concerns. This systematic review provides a comprehensive, synthesized report on the evidence base of interventions that impact harm in these settings, and how they affect health, behavioral, and criminal justice outcomes.MethodsNine databases were searched for experimental and observational studies published between 2010 and 2021. Studies were included if they were peer-reviewed, published in English, described interventions which could impact AOD-related harms in LES or OMF (and were delivered in these environments), and reported on health, criminal justice and/or behavioral outcomes. Methodological quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project’s Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies and the Critical Appraisal Skills Program for qualitative studies. A narrative synthesis was conducted to synthesize outcomes across studies. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020140004).ResultsOf the 48,303 studies screened, 100 met the inclusion criteria. 86 focused solely on reducing alcohol-related harm, 7 on reducing illicit drug-related harm, and 7 on both. Most (n = 88) focused on LES and evaluated changes in laws and regulations (n = 28) and/or multicomponent interventions/policies (n = 41). Multicomponent interventions showed the best results for both health (62% positive) and criminal justice (84% positive) outcomes, with 71% of studies being rated as strong quality. There was also good evidence to support the careful application of trading hour restrictions and limited but promising evidence to support medical services and drug checking.ConclusionThe breadth, quality and volume of evidence regarding what works in reducing AOD-related harm in recreational settings have increased in the past decade, particularly regarding LES. Findings support onsite medical services (reducing ambulance transfer rates), multicomponent interventions targeting alcohol accessibility and availability (reducing assaults), and drug checking services, but suggest other interventions such as drug detection dogs may exacerbate harm. Further, higher quality research is required to address identified gaps in the evidence base, particularly on optimal interventions within OMF, around illicit drugs more broadly and in the Global South.

Parental Arrest, Incarceration and the Outcomes of Their Children

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION PART TWO: MODELS OF POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD - Rainer K Silbereisen and Richard M Lerner Developmental Assets - Peter Benson An Overview of Theory, Research and Practice Civic Engagement as an Expression of Positive Youth Development - Lonnie Sherrod Empathy-related Responding - Nancy Eisenberg Its Role in Positive Development and Socialization Correlates Soci(et)al Scaffolding of Individual Growth Across the Life Span - Jutta Heckhausen PART THREE: MULTIPLE CONTEXTS OF POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT Perceived Social Inequity and Responses to Conflict among Diverse Youth of Color - Davido Dupree et al The Effects of Social and Physical Context on Youth Behavior and Attitudes Not You! Not Here! Not Now! - Jacquelynne S Eccles and Corinne Alfeld Life Chances and Opportunities in Times of Social Change - Ingrid Schoon Evidence from Two British Birth Cohorts Social Control and Adolescent Development - John H Laub et al A View from Life-Course Criminology Social Support and Positive Development - Karen S Mooney et al Looking on the Bright Side of Adolescent Close Relationships The Long Way to Entrepreneurship - Eva Schmitt-Rodermund Personality, Parenting, Early Interests and Competencies as Precursors for Entrepreneurial Activity among the 'Termites' PART FOUR: INTERVENTIONS AND SOCIAL POLICY Adolescent Spirituality and Positive Youth Development - Pamela Ebstyne King A Look at Religion, Social Capital and Moral Functioning Youth Political Activism - Constance Flanagan et al Sources of Public Hope in the Context of Globalization Macrosocial Worries as a Source of Positive Youth Development - Klaus Boehnke et al Results of a 20-Year Longitudinal Study and Policy Implications From 'I' to 'We' - Reed Larson Development of the Capacity for Teamwork in Youth Programs Prevention Against Substance Use - Karina Weichold Life-skills and Positive Youth Development Building Resources in the Context of Socio-Economic Disadvantage - Cigdem Kagitcibasi Lessons from Research for Social Policies

Maternal relationship characteristics have been found to impact academic and behavioral outcomes for youth. However, less is known about how and through what mechanisms these characteristics impact outcomes for mentored youth. In this study, we examined if mentoring relationship quality mediated the relations between maternal relationship characteristics and academic and behavioral outcomes targeted by mentoring programs. Data were drawn from 205 participants who participated in a mentoring program that pairs adolescent girls with college women mentors for 1 year of mentoring. Mentoring relationship quality was the hypothesized mechanism of change and was included in the analysis as a mediator. Results revealed that maternal relationship characteristics (i.e., maternal quality communication/trust and maternal alienation) were directly related to academic and behavioral outcomes of mentoring. The relationship between maternal relationship characteristics and behavioral outcomes was mediated by mentoring relationship quality. Results suggested that girls with stronger maternal quality communication and trust as well as girls who felt more alienated from their mothers may benefit more from mentoring. Results can be used to inform mentor training to include a focus on relationship development with girls experiencing a variety of relational difficulties with their mothers to help improve targeted mentoring outcomes.